


You've Got To Be Kitten Me!

by cesslavie



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band), TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Animagus!Irene, F/F, other characters are only mentioned sorry, squint for side pairings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:49:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26630128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cesslavie/pseuds/cesslavie
Summary: Kang Seulgi, Hufflepuff Quidditch captain, is now a 6th year at Hogwarts. After the previous 5 years passed by stressfully (mostly due to her friends' antics), she hopes to live out the year peacefully, but when she stumbles upon an injured feline in the Forbidden Forest, her hopes of a relaxing year may already be in trouble.Or that seulrene HP! AU I wanted to read, but no one wanted to write, so I made it myself.
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Kang Seulgi, side Im Nayeon/Minatozaki Sana
Comments: 18
Kudos: 109





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, everyone!
> 
> I've been a lurker on this site for close to 5 years now, but this is my first time writing a fic, so please be nice!
> 
> Comments are greatly appreciated! Especially regarding the tense of the story (would you prefer past tense?) I hope you enjoy!

Hogwarts had been Seulgi’s home for the past 5 years. Now in her sixth year, she plans to quietly live out the rest of her school days. She had been lucky and grateful that her lowest score was E in her O.W.L.S. the previous year, but now she’ll be taking N.E.W.T.-level classes and studying for that particular exam, and in all honesty, she just wants to drop everything and focus on quidditch. Which reminds her, she’ll have to set up a meeting regarding their game plan for the match against Ravenclaw. Seulgi wasn’t too worried about them, but it’s best not to underestimate opponents. Not to brag or anything, but Seulgi was confident in her flying abilities. She hopes to get scouted by a team (preferably the Holyhead Harpies, she’s a _huge_ fan of Ginny Weasley) and win the World Cup.

Classes begin in 2 weeks, and Seulgi would make the best of her remaining freedom. Her friends would not arrive until the day after tomorrow, and she was getting bored. She opted to come to Hogwarts earlier so her parents can travel the world. Seulgi mostly hung out with Hagrid and the house elves, but since school was starting soon, they were all quite busy. She could visit Hogsmeade, but going alone seemed sad. Sighing, she heads towards the pitch for some early morning flying. _Accio_ -ing her Firebolt Supreme (a gift from her parents when she passed her O.W.L.S.), she immediately mounts it and zooms through the sky.

Flying was Seulgi’s greatest passion. A sense of freedom flows through her as she darts past the towering facade of the castle. As classes have not started yet, very few students could be found in the castle grounds, Seulgi thinks she’ll miss the peace and quiet once they resume. She leisurely drifts across the school, admiring the scenery. After some time, her boredom got the best of her. She shoots up towards the sky, and when she could go no higher, stops. The castle was but a mere dot from viewpoint. She waits a beat, then hurtles towards the ground at breakneck speed, the landscape blurring around her. Adrenaline pumps through her veins as the ground rushes up to meet her. Seulgi pulls on her broom at the last second, zipping by parallel to the ground. She slows down as she reaches the entrance to the Forbidden Forest, heart still beating frantically. She grins, that was great flying, if she does say so herself. Dismounting her broom, she decides a little trek would help calm down her excitement.

She enters the forest. She always made it a point to walk through the forest at least once a week. While technically off-limits to students, she stuck to the well-worn paths and areas they would usually go to for class. There was still some time before lunch, so she decides to explore just a little further from normal. Carefully stepping over branches and rocks so she doesn’t trip, she decides against using _Lumos_ , as it might disturb or draw the creatures. Five minutes of walking passes, not much of the scenery changes. She figures she’s had enough, and retraces her steps back towards the castle, when she came upon an injured pure white persian cat. Seulgi pauses; she wonders how a cat could wander into the forest, as most pets knew not to stray here. The cat looks at her with mournful eyes, which Seulgi notices to be oddly human-like, and meows pitifully. Brushing it off as a trick of the light, she picks up the cat carefully so as not to disturb its injuries. She tenderly cradles the cat and sets off back to the castle.

As soon as they exited the forest, Seulgi delicately laid the cat on the ground and sat down beside it. She wasn’t sure if a healing spell for humans would work on a cat, and she really didn’t want to bother Hagrid since he’s allergic to cats, so she decides to tend to the injuries the old fashioned way (with a bit of magic, she doesn’t have any supplies on her). She casts _Aguamenti_ to wash off the debris from the cuts, followed by _Ferula_ , a spell which conjures bandages to wrap around the wounds and splint the cat’s broken leg. She gingerly picks it up again and goes to her dormitory.

As soon as they arrive, she places the cat on the bed and prepares to leave again.

“Wait for me, okay? I’ll go get us some food.” She pets the cat for a bit, and then leaves for the kitchens.

One of the perks of being friends with the house elves is that she can pop in and out anytime, be it for snacks or just to chat with the house elves. Seeing as she had an injured stray on her bed, she thought it best to not leave it for too long until it recovers.

“Hey, Zimsy. Can I have lunch in my room? And could you also add stuff cats can eat? I picked up an injured cat in the Forbidden Forest.”

“Right away, Miss Kang!” Zimsy busies himself preparing Seulgi’s request.

“Zimsy,” she whines, “I told you to just call me Seulgi!”

“Miss Seulgi?”

_Okay, close enough_. Seulgi nods.

Zimsy finishes preparing, and hands her the basket containing their food.

“Thank you, Zimsy. I’ll be back soon!”

Seulgi rushes to the Hufllepuff common room, almost tripping on her up the stairs to her room. When Seulgi enters, she finds the cat sleeping soundly, curled up on her blankets. Seulgi’s heart melts, she really, _really_ hopes no one owns it so she can keep it. She already has an owl, but the new school rule states that she can have up to two pets.

She quietly moves towards the bed, but cats have superhuman hearing. The cat suddenly wakes up, backs into the corner, and hisses at her.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down kitty. I brought you food.” Seulgi takes out their food and lays it on her bedside table. She tries to reach out slowly to the cat, but it slaps her hand away, a few of its claws sticking and scratching Seulgi.

“Ouch!” Seulgi howls, holding her hand close to her chest. The cat continues to snarl at her.

“All right, all right, calm down, you ungrateful feline. I’ll leave your food here.” Seulgi places the cat’s food— _steak_ , better than her own food, even—beside her, and starts to eat her own food. She ignores the cat, who was just staring at her. She figures the cat will be hungry enough to accept the food.

Seulgi finishes her food, and is about to stand up, when the cat slowly approaches the food, still staring at Seulgi. It taps Seulgi’s leg and looks at her, looks towards the food, then back again at her. Seulgi wonders what the hell the cat was asking her to do. A minute of silence passes between them. The cat, growing impatient, starts to growl and paw at the steak.

Taking a shot in the dark, Seulgi asks, “Do you want me to cut it for you?”

The cat looks at her and meows. Taking this as an affirmative, Seulgi slowly gets up and gets a knife and fork, then looks towards the cat again with an eyebrow raised. The cat only meows. Seulgi starts cutting the steak into bite-sized pieces. The cat meows—appreciatively, Seulgi believes—and starts to eat as she moves away from it. Seulgi, glad that everything is going smoothly, stands up slowly so as not to startle it. _Maybe she should go to Hogsmeade and buy some cat stuff_ , she thinks, _maybe I could take the kitty with me_.

“Kitty,” she starts, “would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?” Seulgi smiles.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 2 guys! Hope you enjoy!

“Kitty,” she starts, “would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?” Seulgi smiles.

The cat—she should really name her soon, but she doesn’t want to get _too_ attached—simply stares at her. It really is disconcerting, how the cat’s eyes seem so human-like, they held an intelligence that can’t be found in animals. _Weird_.

“We could get you a bed and stuff, or some toys! Wouldn't you like that?”

The cat yawns.

“All right, all right, I’ll stop bothering you. I’ll go. Be back soon!”

The cat ignores her, simply curling up on the floor and going back to sleep.

_Okaaay._ Seulgi leaves the cat be and heads towards the only pet shop in Hogsmeade.

_Let’s see,_ Seulgi thinks, _comfy bed, litter box, toys. Would the kitty be too mad if I got her clothes, too?_

She arrives at the store and buys everything she needs as fast as she could, because she really wants to go back and play with the cat.

She dashes to her room as soon as she reaches the castle entrance. She got all sorts of toys for the cat, and she’s hoping it would fancy at least one of them.

The cat— _I think I’ll just call her Kitty_ , Seulgi thinks—is still sleeping. Unable to contain her excitement any longer, she calls out to the cat. “Kitty, hey Kitty, _pspspsps._ ”

Kitty seemed to glare at her, which she understands, she’d be cranky too if someone rudely woke her up. Seulgi pulls out a laser pointer. She grins and starts to shine the laser near Kitty first, then towards the wall. Kitty looks at her, unimpressed. Seulgi extracts a toy mouse, and throws it by its feet. Kitty bats it away with a paw and turns away from Seulgi.

“Wait, Kitty, I have more!”

Seulgi depletes her toy stash—still no response from the cat—by the time dinner comes around.

“Okay, let’s play tomorrow, then! I’ll go get us some food again from the kitchens.” The cat continues to ignore her.

After eating and getting ready for bed, Seulgi pulls out the cat bed she got for Kitty, who was still burrowed under the covers of Seulgi’s bed. It just stares at the new addition to the room with disinterest and seems to roll its eyes. She attempts to carry the cat to the bed, but is met with more hissing and scratching. Deciding that it wouldn’t hurt for Kitty to sleep with her, Seulgi goes to lie down, but the cat has apparently claimed the bed as its territory, growling and hissing at her. She didn’t want to stress out an injured animal, so she concedes.

_Guess I’m sleeping on the floor tonight._

✜✜✜✜✜

This continues for several days, it has almost become routine to them. Seulgi wakes up and heads to the pitch for some flying, goes to the kitchen to get them food, cuts up Kitty’s meal, tries to take it on a walk and play with her with no response from the cat, repeat until bedtime. Seulgi’s friends are finally here, but it doesn’t make much of a difference, as she stays cooped up in her room most of the time trying to get the cat to notice her. Even though the cat’s injuries have healed nicely, she’s really worried now; the cat just eats and sleeps, and sometimes at night, attempts to leave her room, yowling and screeching until Seulgi wakes up. She knew it was time to consult someone. She can’t ask Hagrid, since he’s allergic to all things feline. Professor Neville, her favorite teacher, probably doesn’t know much about animals. An idea strikes her.

_How come I didn’t think of this before?_ Seulgi grabs the cat, ignoring its spitting and snarling (and the pain from getting scratched), and _thank god_ she wore a long-sleeved hoodie, and sprints towards the headmistress’ office. The headmistress must know a lot about cats, since she could turn into one herself. Seulgi practically screams the password at the gargoyle.

“Ice Mice! Please hurry!”

It seems that the gargoyle is in the mood for jokes, as Seulgi notices that it deliberately moves slower than usual. Seulgi just rolls her eyes and impatiently taps her foot.

When the gargoyle finally, _finally_ , steps aside, she thanks the gargoyle (because she’s not rude) and races inside. The headmistress is signing papers when Seulgi, cat in hand, barges in.

“Professor, professor! Please help! I’m having cat problems. I found it when I was walking in the Forbidden Forest,” Seulgi pauses, the headmistress glares, “anyway that’s not important, the important bit is it was injured, so I took care of it as best as I could. I changed it’s bandages every few hours and stuff. But it just stays in my bed all day without moving and I’m getting really worried and since you’re a cat yourself maybe you could—.” Minerva McGonagall cuts her off.

“Miss Kang, you’re rambling. May I hold it?”

Seulgi extends sore arms towards the professor, who delicately takes the cat.

McGonagall stares into its eyes. “Is that you, Miss Bae?”

The cat meows frantically, as if glad that someone finally got it.

_Hold up_. There’s only one Bae in this school, she’s a 7th year and she’s the Brightest Witch of Her Age.

“Wait, what?”

“Miss Bae is an animagus, I personally mentored her during the process.”

Seulgi tries to process the information she’s receiving.

“Zimsy!” Seulgi hears a very loud crack, and Zimsy appears inside the room. “Please bring Professor Slughorn here as soon as possible. Zimsy bows, and Disapparates from the room.

As soon as Slughorn arrives, McGonagall says, “Horace, I believe you know the animagus reversal spell?”

Slughorn, seeing McGonagall holding the cat, just nods and readies his wand. A bright blue light appears from the tips of the two professors' wands headed towards Kitty. Seulgi just gawks in awe as the cat transforms into Bae Joohyun, looking perfect as ever. Joohyun looks like she was about to cry from relief, but barely a minute passes when Joohyun once again turns into a cat.

“It seems she was cursed to stay in this form for quite some time.” McGonagall transforms into a silver tabby cat. The two felines started to communicate with one another, meowing and chattering and _sniffing_?

Unable to help herself, Seulgi asks, “Professor, can you ask her what food she likes to eat?”

The two cats gape at her in disbelief, and Seulgi’s face flushes. “Don’t mind me!” she squeaks.

They “talk” for several minutes more, with Seulgi fidgeting all the while. Then McGonagall shifts back into her human form.

“Horace, please gather the other professors and Madam Pomfrey here. Say it’s an emergency.” Slughorn nods and walks out the office.

McGonagall turns to her. “Miss Kang, thank you for taking care of Miss Bae. I would like you to continue doing so until we find a way to lift the curse.”

Seulgi just nods dumbly as McGonagall hands over Kit— _Joohyun_. Joohyun seems more calm, now that someone knows of her situation. She even tries petting her, but Joohyun swats away.

“Sorry!”

“As Miss Bae is the head girl, you may stay with her in her room for the time being. Zimsy will bring your meals, just call for him and request what you would like. We don’t know how the curse works, so it’s better to be as isolated as possible. I will call for the both of you once we have discussed what to do. You may go.” The professor dismisses them.

The pair are about to leave when McGonagall calls her with a teasing glint in the headmistress’ eyes. “Oh, and Miss Kang?”

“Yes, professor?”

“She’ll eat anything, so long as it’s not chicken.”

Seulgi blushes again and mumbles a _thank you, professor_ , then leaves for her dorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would greatly appreciate comments and suggestions! If you have any questions, feel free to drop a message here or my twitter: @cessarsaladdd
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Genshin Impact has consumed me.

On their way back, they bump into Nayeon and Sana.

“Seul! Where the hell have you been?” Nayeon gazes at her with an eyebrow raised.  
“What a cute cat!” Sana gushes. She moves to pet it, and to Seulgi’s surprise, Joohyun allows her. She even licks Sana’s hand.

Nayeon looks at Sana fondly and joins her in petting Joohyun before asking Seulgi, “Hey, have you seen Joohyun around? We need to go over duties with the other prefects. It’s really weird, though. She’s not responding to any of my letters, and the last one I received said she was already at Hogwarts.”

“Uhh...” Seulgi doesn’t know if it’s supposed to be a secret or not, so she looks at Joohyun, who seems to be nodding at her.

“Well,” fuck it, “you guys are petting her.”

A beat of silence passes.

“The cat. It’s Joohyun.”

Joohyun meows.

“What the fuck?” Nayeon screeches, Seulgi winces. A few heads turn to look at the sudden noise.

“Quiet down! I don’t even know if I’m supposed to tell anybody!”

“Seulgi, if you’re fucking with me, I will hex you into oblivion!” Nayeon whisper-shouts while jabbing a finger at her.

“I swear I’m not! Go ask her.” Seulgi lifts up Joohyun to the two Slytherins’ faces.

Sana questions the cat. “Is it true? Are you really Joohyun?”

Joohyun meows again and nods.

“Babe, do cats nod?” Sana turns to Nayeon.

“I don’t think so,” Nayeon continues to stare at the cat.

“Look, I’ll explain everything later, okay? But I need to go to my room and pack our stuff so I can bring it to Joohyun’s room.”

Nayeon just nods dumbly before Sana drags her away. “See you later, Seul!”

✜✜✜✜✜

The head girl’s room is located on the fifth floor of the castle, a corridor away from the prefects’ bathroom, which Seulgi has the privilege of using since she’s a quidditch captain. Not that they’ll need to use that bathroom, she’s pretty sure the head girl’s room has its own.

As soon as they arrive in the room, Joohyun jumps from her arms to the bed, a four-poster and king-sized. Seulgi looks around; the room is decorated in Slytherin colors, and is larger than the dorm room she and her three roommates stay in. A large, wooden desk littered with all sorts of memorabilia is found in the corner of the room, On one side, there’s a really comfy-looking chair coupled with a coffee table and Oh wow, there’s a stone fireplace too. A door—to the bathroom, Seulgi surmises—is situated in the corner opposite the desk.

Seulgi unpacks her stuff as Joohyun watches her from the bed. In the midst of unpacking and cleaning, Zimsy passed by to drop off their dinner. After finishing, Seulgi pulls out her sleeping bag and proceeds to lay in it, but Joohyun slaps her face.

BAP BAP BAP.

She stares at Joohyun in confusion. Joohyun taps the bed with her paws. It seems the animagus was taking pity on her.

“You want me to sleep with you?”

Joohyun’s ears flatten against her head as she hisses at Seulgi.

Seulgi realizes her poor choice of words and scrambles for an apology. “Wait, wait! I didn’t mean it that way, I’m sorry!”

Joohyun relaxes, but still stares at her warily.

“Do you want me to stay on the bed?”

Joohyun nods.

“Okay, okay. Scoot over.”

Seulgi makes herself comfortable on one side of the bed, and although Joohyun curls up as far away from her as possible, it’s a start.

This is a huge improvement, Seulgi thinks as she falls asleep, I hope she’ll trust me soon.

✜✜✜✜✜

Classes resume. Seulgi and Joohyun have been cleared to attend classes. The curse placed upon Joohyun is apparently not contagious, and even if it were, very few people would be affected because animagi are scarce in the school. Seulgi brings Joohyun to her 6th year classes, since she’s not smart enough to attend Joohyun’s. Seulgi fetches books from the library for Joohyun to read, and McGonagall tutors her to make up for the classes she misses. Seulgi and Joohyun have developed a form of communication: Joohyun meows and slaps her until she figures out what the hell the cat wanted. Seulgi decides to conjure up an alphabet chart and a yes and no card to avoid Joohyun’s blows.

As November nears, Seulgi spends most of her time on the pitch. Her goal, as with every year, is to win the House Cup. They were so close last year, but they were thwarted by Gryffindor during the finals. Joohyun is left in Zimsy’s care, as she returns to the castle quite late in the evening. Seulgi wonders for a second if Joohyun is bored without her, but immediately perishes the thought. She chuckles to herself, Joohyun, missing me? Not a chance.

Seulgi has to leave practice early, as Professor McGonagall had summoned her and Joohyun to the hospital wing. She quickly picks up Joohyun from their room and practically runs towards their destination. They arrive in record time, Madam Pomfrey promptly taking Joohyun from her arms and placing her on a bed. Madam Pomfrey takes out a bunch of potions from the cupboards.

Professor McGonagall begins to speak, “Miss Bae, Miss Kang. We have found someone who we suspect to be the culprit. Aurors are currently tracking him down. Unless he gives the exact curse he used, we won’t be able to reverse it.” Seulgi turns to look at Joohyun, who’s beginning to yowl in distress. “However,” the Professor continues, “Madam Pomfrey was able to develop a potion that will temporarily turn you human. The effect is sporadic, you would not know when and where you will become human or cat. We also do not know for how long you will stay in each form. Would you like to take it? Rest assured that there will be no side effects. Nonetheless, we expect you to visit for a weekly check up. Miss Kang, please continue to stay with her so we can monitor the potion’s effects.”

Joohyun is quick to nod, probably sick of her cat form. Madam Pomfrey comes over with a dish filled with bright red liquid. “The taste will be awful, but you have to finish all of it.” The Mediwitch lifts the potion to Joohyun’s mouth and slowly tilts it. Joohyun could feel the potion going down her throat and almost gags at the taste, but dutifully drank all of it. They wait with bated breaths for a second, then a minute. Finally, finally, Joohyun turns back into a human, surprise clouding her face. “It worked!” Joohyun said, smiling radiantly, and Seulgi stares in wonder because oh god, she’s beautiful, more than beautiful, she’s dazzling. McGonagall dismisses them after a preliminary check up.

The walk back to their dorm is filled with silence. Seulgi keeps sneaking glances at the goddess beside her, as the other girl stared forward with a blank expression. She couldn’t believe someone could be as beautiful as Joohyun. Sure, she’s seen her before, but only in passing. She never so much as thought of walking, let alone living together with the Bae Joohyun—smartest witch of her age, heir to the house of Bae, a prominent pureblood family from Korea, famous throughout the wizarding world.

Upon arriving at their dorm room, Joohyun heads straight to the bed, sitting and glaring at the floor, and Seulgi gingerly perches herself on the reading chair. The silence continues for a few more minutes before Joohyun clears her throat.

“Thanks for, you know, everything.” Joohyun finally looks at her.

Seulgi smiles brightly, Joohyun is stunned at the sheer brilliance of it. “No problem.”

Joohyun sighs. “Friends?”

Her smile gets impossibly brighter “Friends.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, sorry for the wait! I hope you enjoy. Kudos and comments are welcome!
> 
> You can hit me up here or twitter and IG: @cessarsaladd
> 
> Thank you for reading UwU


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